Dada - 'Asset or Liability'

The comments made in this article are purely of individual nature & any similarity with any other article published any where is purely coincidental.

Team India landed on the Indian soil couple of days back after a 45 day pressure series against arch rivals Pakistan where they lost the test series 0-1, courtesy to the pitch curators of the 1st & 2nd test matches where all the 11 players from each side had every probability of beating their previous batting records & thanks to the irresponsible batting by the Indians on the 4th day of the Karachi Test where it was Asif’s chance to better his bowling records. However, the Indian team fought back, almost surprising most cricket lovers in Pakistan & back home in the way they beat Pakistan 4-1 to win the ODI series.

The players have barely reached home & the sports media & cricket fans have already started to formulate strategies for India’s upcoming series against England at home that includes 3 Test matches & 7 ODI’s. The way the Indian team has performed in the ODI’s in Pakistan has cast serious doubts over the career of the Bengal Tiger-Sourav Ganguly who seems to be in the worst phase of his cricketing career, more emotionally than due to his on-field performance. The main worry for ‘Dada’ would be that he would be lucky to find himself in the playing 11 in the ODI’s against England that has been his forte in the last 10+years because of the tremendous talent that the youngsters have shown against Pak. ‘Dada’ would be possibly chosen in the Test team but again he does not have the best of records in the longer version of the game & the England fast bowlers surely know how to trouble him with the short pitched deliveries.

The fact that India has an upper hand in this home series cant be denied but the Poms cannot be considered as pushovers especially after their Ashes victory last year. They surely are not here to win friends & hearts but they are here to play some tough competitive cricket & am sure that they will use every tool possible to upset the Indian plans of an English whitewash & the Indian team management will be fighting more demons off the field that would include answering bouncers & beamers from the media & also leaving some questions unanswered that might bring out the internal politics out in the public.

So, over to Rahul Dravid who has, over the years proved to be one of the most technically sound cricketers who knows which deliveries to play & which ones to leave alone …so Team India is in safe hands as the skipper is capable of handling the Hoggards & Harmisons of the world as well as the cricket savvy sports media of the Indian subcontinent.